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Brain & Nervous System124 citations

Acute exposure to pulsed 2450-MHz microwaves affects water maze learning in the rat.

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Wang, BM, Lai, H · 2000

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Acute exposure to pulsed microwaves caused a deficit in spatial reference memory in rats.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Rats were trained in six sessions to locate a submerged platform in a circular water maze. They were exposed to pulsed 2450-MHz microwaves for 1 hour before each training session. Microwave-exposed rats were slower than sham-exposed and cage control rats in learning to locate the platform. During the probe trial, microwave-exposed animals spent significantly less time in the quadrant that had contained the platform. There was no significant difference in swim speed among the three groups.

Why This Matters

The researchers noted that microwave-exposed rats used a different strategy to learn the platform location. The probe trial was conducted one hour after the last training session with the platform removed. The study included three groups: microwave-exposed, sham-exposed, and cage control.

Exposure Details

SAR
1.2 W/kg
Power Density
2 mW/cm²
Source/Device
2450-MHz
Exposure Duration
1 Hour

Exposure Context

This study used 2 mW/cm² for radio frequency:

This study used 1.2 W/kg for SAR (device absorption):

Building Biology guidelines are practitioner-based limits from real-world assessments. BioInitiative Report recommendations are based on peer-reviewed science. Check Your Exposure to compare your own measurements.

Where This Falls on the Concern Scale

Study Exposure Level in ContextStudy Exposure Level in ContextThis study: 2 mW/cm²Extreme Concern - 1,000 µW/m²FCC Limit - 10M µW/m²Effects observed in the Extreme Concern range (Building Biology)This level is 2 times the FCC limit
A logarithmic frequency spectrum from 10 Hz to 100 GHz showing where this study's 2.45 GHz exposure sits relative to common EMF sources.Where This Frequency Sits on the EMF SpectrumELFVLFLF / MFHF / VHFUHFSHFmm10 Hz100 GHzThis study: 2.45 GHzPower lines50/60 Hz5G mm28 GHzLogarithmic scale

Study Details

The aim of this study is to investigate Acute exposure to pulsed 2450-MHz microwaves affects water maze learning in the rat.

Rats were trained in six sessions to locate a submerged platform in a circular water maze. They were...

Microwave-exposed rats were slower than sham-exposed and cage control rats in learning to locate the...

These results show that acute exposure to pulsed microwaves caused a deficit in spatial "reference" memory in the rat.

Cite This Study
Wang, BM, Lai, H (2000). Acute exposure to pulsed 2450-MHz microwaves affects water maze learning in the rat. Bioelectromagnetics 21:52-56, 2000.
Show BibTeX
@article{wang_2000_acute_exposure_to_pulsed_1419,
  author = {Wang and BM and Lai and H},
  title = {Acute exposure to pulsed 2450-MHz microwaves affects water maze learning in the rat.},
  year = {2000},
  
  url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10615092/},
}
PubMed: 10615092

Cited By (124 papers)

View all 124 citing papers on Semantic Scholar

Quick Questions About This Study

Rats were trained in six sessions to locate a submerged platform in a circular water maze. They were exposed to pulsed 2450-MHz microwaves for 1 hour before each training session.
Microwave-exposed rats were slower to learn the platform location compared to sham-exposed and cage control rats.
There was no significant difference in swim speed among the three groups, indicating the learning difference was not due to motor function or motivation changes.
During the probe trial, microwave-exposed rats spent significantly less time in the target quadrant and showed different swim patterns.
The researchers concluded that acute exposure to pulsed microwaves caused a deficit in spatial reference memory in rats.